Weather and Climate of
Latin America
Topics:
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Latitude and altitude zones
Orographic effects
Ocean currents
Wind and pressure patterns
Precipitation patterns
Hurricanes
Hurricane Mitch
Latitudinal Zones
Altitudinal zonation
Temperature drops 3.5 degrees (F) for
every 1000 ft gain in elevation
In each elevation zone,
Climate, vegetation, agriculture,
lifestyles vary
Peru map
Tierra Nevada (permanent snow and ice)
No permanent human occupants
– When some snow/ice melt, keeps water
reserves high
– Rodents, small carnivores, condor
Tierra Helada 12000 – 1 5 000 ft.
“páramo” in northern Andes; “puna” in Andes
of Peru and Bolivia
– Mining, herding of sheep, llamas, alpacas
– Deer, vicuña, guanaco
Tierra Fria: 6000 – 12000 ft.
Lower elevations: maize
and beans;
higher elevations:
tubers
Sheep herding, wheat.
barley, broad beans,
alfalfa, fruit trees,
dairy cows
Major population
centers: Bogotá,
Quito, La Paz, Sucre,
Cuzco
Tierra Templada 2500 – 6000 ft.
– Absence of frost
– Coffee and cacao
– Sugar cane, citrus, cotton, tomatoes, sweet
potatoes, squash, maize
Tierra Caliente
(sea level to 2500 ft.)
– Year-round high temps
– High diversity; disease and pest
problems
– Cacoa, manioc (cassava), sweet
potatoes, peanuts
Orographic Effect
• Mountains force air to
lift, cooling
temperatures, forcing
cloud and precipitation
formation
• Windward side of
mountain is wet
• Lee side of mountain is
in rainshadow (dry)
• Patagonian
desert is in
rainshadow
of southern
Andes
examples:
• Puerto Rico
– Windward side : San
Juan :
– 60 “ annually
– Leeward side : Ponce:
36 “
• Buenaventura,
Colombia
(windward):
394 cm
• Cali, Colombia
(leeward) :
97 cm
Ocean Currents
• Currents affect temperatures of
coastal landmasses
• Currents affect humidity of coastal
landmasses
– (cold currents: dry; warm currents: wet)
3 cold currents
• California current
– Aridity of
northwestern Mexico
• Falkland/Malvinas
current
– Cold, arid Patagonia
• Peru (Humboldt)
current
– El Niño
4 warm currents
• Equatorial Counter
Current (Pacific)
• Brazil Current
• North Equatorial
Current (Atlantic)
• Gulf Stream
Wind and pressure patterns
Pressure belts:
1. Equatorial Low (15°N - 15°S)
– Rising air; warm, wet, cloud cover all year
2. Subtropical Highs (centers 30°N, S)
– Descending air, dry, lack of cloud cover
– Clockwise circulation in N. Hem,
counterclockwise in S. Hem.
3. Subpolar Lows (centers 55 °N, S)
– Rising air, cool, wet
4. Polar High (poles)
– Descending dry air
• Belts shift seasonally with subsolar
point
– Causing wet and dry seasons
• When equatorial low is present: wet season
• When subtropical high is present: dry season
Resulting wet/dry seasons:
• Caribbean, S. Mexico, Central America:
– Wet season: May – October (summer)
– Dry season: November – April (winter)
• South America:
– Central (Brazil, Eastern Bolivia):
• Wet season: November – April (summer)
• Dry season: May - October (winter)
Wind patterns
• Winds blow from high to low pressure;
clockwise and counterclockwise around
highs and lows
• Northeast Tradewinds
• Southeast Tradewinds
• Intertropical Convergence Zone
(Doldrums)
• Westerlies
Guajira
Atacama
Patagonia
Hurricanes
Progression:
Tropical disturbances
– disorganized storms
Tropical depressions
23 mph
Tropical Storms
39 mph
Hurricanes (Tropical
Cyclone) 74 mph
• Originate in tropics over warm oceans
– “typhoon”
– “baguio”
– “cyclone”
• N. Hem: August - September
• S. Hem: January - March
• Eye wall (100 inches/day)
• Very low pressure in center
Forward right flank
• High winds (>120 km / hr)
• Heavy rainfall (25 cm - several meters /
day)
• Storm surge
Saffir-Simpson Scale
CATEGORY DAMAGE
1
2
3
4
5
minimal
moderate
extensive
extreme
catastrophic
WINDS
74 -95mph
96 -110
111-130
131 -155
> 155
STORM SURGE
4 -5 ft.
6 -8 ft.
9 -12 ft
13 -18 ft
> 18 ft
Hurricane Mitch 1998
at the time, (2nd) most deadly hurricane in western
hemisphere
Hurricane
Date
Areas Struck
Deaths
Martinique
"The Great
October 10-16,
St. Eustatius
22,000
Hurricane"
1780
Barbados
Ships
Central
11,000+
Oct 26 - Nov 4,
America:
Hurricane Mitch
(3 million
1998
Honduras
homeless)
Nicaragua
September 8,
Galveston, Texas
Galveston Island
8,000
1900
September 14 Hurricane Fifi
Honduras
8,000
19, 1974
Dominican
September 1-6,
Dominican
8,000
Republic
1930
Republic
Sep 30, 1963 Haiti
Hurricane Flora
7,200
Oct 8, 1963
Cuba
September 6,
Martinique
Point Petre Bay
6,000
1776
1864 Calcutta Cyclone, In, 1864dia
Death Toll: 60,000
1970 Bhola cyclone, Bangladesh (East
Pakistan)
Year: 1970
Death Toll: 500,000
1922 Swatow Typhoon, China,
1922
Death Toll: 60,000
Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876,
Bangladesh
Death Toll: 200,000
1882 Bombay cyclone, India, 1882
Death Toll: 100,000
Super Typhoon Nina, China, 1975
Death Toll: 210,000
1991 Bangladesh cyclone, 1991
Death Toll: 138,866
Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar, 2008
Death Toll: 140,000
1737 Calcutta cyclone, India, 1737
Death Toll: 300,000
1881 Haiphong Typhoon, Vietnam, 1881
Death Toll: 300,000
1839 Indian Cyclone, 1839
Death Toll: 300,000
10-22-98
tropical depression
10-26-98
Category 5; central
pressure 905 mb
(sustained 6 hours)
180-200 mph winds
(sustained 15 hours)
44 ‘ waves
10-31-98 inland to
Guatemala
Orographic rain (1-2 ‘
per day; total 75 “)
Haiti podcast